Puerto Rico Democracy Act (H.R. 2499) – a bill that rigs the referendum process to favor Puerto Rico being admitted as the 51st state – but, there is still time to get your phone calls into your representative’s office!

This issue was put in the national spotlight yesterday, when national news radio and TV host Glenn Beck sounded the alarm on the stealth Puerto Rican statehood lobby and explained why this bill must be voted down and defeated today on the House floor:

In a shocking blog post last week, Pastor Chuck Baldwin pointed out how the Southern Poverty Law Center, a well known leftist activist group, published a “hit list” of sorts for Patriots fighting against the fascist policies instituted by the Progressives in government. The SPLC (founded by Morris Dees) sees itself as America’s guardian against “right wing militias” and loves to label conservatives and libertarians that it doesn’t like as “extremists.”The SPLC is one of the most ultra-liberal organizations in the country and should be dismissed as a group of paranoid leftists, not worthy of thought or mention.

The sad truth is, however, our federal government has chosen to exalt the SPLC to the position of being its “go to” source for information regarding “potential domestic terrorists” and similar characterizations. As a result, the information and reports disseminated by SPLC wind up in police reports and bulletins all over the United States. As an example, the SPLC had its fingerprints all over the infamous MIAC report. One could even question whether the SPLC is merely a front organization for Big Brother.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the report negatively profiling 40 American patriots will find its way into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fusion centers and be distributed to police agencies all across the country. So, should the 40 people who find themselves targeted by SPLC expect some kind of government/police attention? Are we really that close to Nazi-style persecution in America? If the SPLC has its way, the answer seems to be a definite yes.

The Southern Poverty Law Center starts out the list with the following comment:

In the last year and a half, militias and the larger antigovernment “Patriot” movement have exploded, accompanied by the rapid expansion of other sectors of the radical right. This spectacular growth (see timeline) is the result of several factors, including anger over major political, demographic and economic changes in America, along with the popularization of radical ideas and conspiracy theories by ostensibly mainstream politicians and media commentators.

Although the resurgence of the so-called Patriots — people who generally believe that the federal government is an evil entity that is engaged in a secret conspiracy to impose martial law, herd those who resist into concentration camps, and force the United States into a socialistic “New World Order” — also has been propelled by people who were key players in the first wave of the Patriot movement in the mid–1990s, there are also a large number of new players. What follows are profiles of 35 individuals at the heart of the resurgent movement:

Pastor Baldwin points out the list is actually 40 names long, plus a bogus “timeline” of what they erroneously call “The Patriot Movement”, lumping militias, etc, in with disgruntled voters and taxpayers of the tea parties. Pastor Baldwin continues with even more shocking news:

Here are the 40 names that are targeted in the SPLC report (and guess who is listed at the very top? Yours truly):

Joel Skousen quotes (Radar Magazine’s) Christopher Ketcham’s The Last Roundup as asking if the federal government is “compiling a secret enemies list of citizens who could face detention?” He goes on to say, “A number of former government employees and intelligence sources with independent knowledge of domestic surveillance operations claim the program that caused the flap between [former assistant attorney general under John Ashcroft, James] Comey and the White House was related to a database of Americans who might be considered potential threats in the event of a national emergency. Sources familiar with the program say that the government’s data gathering has been overzealous and probably conducted in violation of federal law and the protection from unreasonable search and seizure guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.

“A veteran CIA intelligence analyst who maintains active high-level clearances and serves as an advisor to the Department of Defense in the field of emerging technology tells Radar that during the 2004 hospital room drama [between former Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Attorney General Ashcroft, in an attempt by Card to coerce a very ill Ashcroft to authorize President Bush’s secretive domestic spying programs as his assistant–and acting–attorney general had refused to do so], James Comey expressed concern over how this secret database was being used ‘to accumulate otherwise private data on non-targeted U.S. citizens for use at a future time.'”

The report further states, “According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, ‘There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived “enemies of the state” almost instantaneously.'” At this point, Skousen noted, “And that is precisely why the census bureau took a GPS coordinate on every front door in America, secretly linking this to dissidents and their known addresses.”

This database of Americans who are perceived to be potential “enemies of the state” goes by the code name “Main Core.” And according to the report, “One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.

“Officials at the Department of Homeland Security begin actively scrutinizing people who–for a tremendously broad set of reasons–have been flagged in Main Core as potential domestic threats [sound familiar?]. Some of these individuals might receive a letter or a phone call, others a request to register with local authorities. Still others might hear a knock on the door and find police or armed soldiers outside. In some instances, the authorities might just ask a few questions. Other suspects might be arrested and escorted to federal holding facilities, where they could be detained without counsel until the state of emergency is no longer in effect.”

The report also noted that former Assistant Attorney General James Comey “had concluded that the use of that ‘Main Core’ database compromised the legality of the overall NSA domestic surveillance project. ‘If Main Core does exist,’ says Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counterterrorism officer and an outspoken critic of the agency, ‘the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is its likely home. If a master list is being compiled, it would have to be in a place where there are no legal issues–the CIA and FBI would be restricted by oversight and accountability laws–so I suspect it is at DHS, which as far as I know operates with no such restraints.’ Giraldi notes that DHS already maintains a central list of suspected terrorists and has been freely adding people who pose no reasonable threat to domestic security.”

INDECT partners, please log in to gain access to all project related information.

Project Description

Intelligent information system supporting observation, searching and detection for security of citizens in urban environment.

The main objectives of the INDECT project are:

to develop a platform for: the registration and exchange of operational data, acquisition of multimedia content, intelligent processing of all information and automatic detection of threats and recognition of criminal behaviour or violence,

to develop the prototype of an integrated, network-centric system supporting the operational activities of police officers, providing techniques and tools for observation of various mobile objects,

to develop a new type of search engine combining direct search of images and video based on watermarked contents, and the storage of metadata in the form of digital watermarks,

The main expected results of the INDECT project are:

to realise a trial installation of the monitoring and surveillance system in various points of city agglomeration and demonstration of the prototype of the system with 15 node stations,

implementation of a distributed computer system that is capable of acquisition, storage and effective sharing on demand of the data as well as intelligent processing,

construction of a family of prototypes of devices used for mobile object tracking,

construction of a search engine for fast detection of persons and documents based on watermarking technology and utilising comprehensive research on watermarking technology used for semantic search,

construction of agents assigned to continuous and automatic monitoring of public resources such as: web sites, discussion forums, UseNet groups, file servers, p2p networks as well as individual computer systems,

elaboration of Internet based intelligence gathering system, both active and passive, and demonstrating its efficiency in a measurable way.

This is part of the Seventh Framework Programme. Looking at their website you can see the future Obama and the Democrats invision for us, including:

Conference: ‘Towards a greater understanding of the changing role of business in society’, Brussels, Belgium

[Date: 2010-03-24]

A conference entitled ‘Towards a greater understanding of the changing role of business in society’ will take place in Brussels, Belgium from 22 April 2010.

The aim of the event is to discuss the main outcomes of selected projects funded under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) with stakeholders in order to explore the practical implications of the research done.

Apart from the research dimension, the conference will take up a discussion on three issues crucial for understanding better the changing role of business in society, especially in the context of the financial and economic crisis. These topics include:
– new governance structures and relationship between enterprises and the state,
– the crisis of trust and its implications for sustainable economic development and social and political stability,
– corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a globalised economy.

Multiple sessions will look at the issues from a business perspective, which will, in turn be evaluated by academics, policy makers and stakeholder representatives during a panel discussion, as well as in an open exchange with the audience.

A conference on ‘Reassessing European citizenship: citizen rights and citizen acts’ will be held in Brussels, Belgium on 27 April 2010.

This conference will present key results of the ENACT (‘Enacting European citizenship’) project which is supported under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). It brings together researchers from three long-standing EU Member States (UK, Belgium and the Netherlands), two new Member States (Hungary and Latvia) and a candidate state (Turkey) to explore in-depth how European citizenship is claimed, disputed, built and enacted.

Normally, European citizenship is assessed in terms of the European Court of Justice’s interpretations of rights. This conference offers a new lens – focused on acts of European citizenship – in order to generate new insights. There is more to European citizenship than status and residence rights. How do people enact citizenship, mobility, and their rights to ‘Europe’? Reaching beyond European citizenship as a legal status, the presentations examine a series of acts by subjects who claim European rights, regardless of their status. Major issues about identity, belonging, and the significance of ‘Europe’ are at stake in these claims.

Sessions at the event will include the following topics:
– ‘The Future of European citizenship’,
– ‘Enacting European citizenship in Turkey’,
– ‘Deprivation of citizenship in the EU’,
– ‘Mobility, sex workers and European citizenship’,
– ‘Challenges to European citizenship: the Roma and Sinti in Italy and Germany’,
– ‘Assessing European citizenship: between law and politics’.

From mountains to deserts and from sea to shining sea, America’s great outdoors have shaped the rugged independence and sense of community that define the American spirit. Our working landscapes, cultural sites, parks, coasts, wild lands, rivers,and streams are gifts that we have inherited from previous generations. They are the places that offer us refuge from daily demands, renew our spirits, and enhance our fondest memories, whether they are fishing with a grandchild in a favorite spot, hiking a trail with a friend, or enjoying a family picnic in a neighborhood park. They also are our farms, ranches, and forests — the working lands that have fed and sustained us for generations. Americans take pride in these places, and share a responsibility to preserve them for our children and grandchildren.

Today, however, we are losing touch with too many of the places and proud traditions that have helped to make America special.

Farms, ranches, forests, and other valuable natural resources are disappearing at an alarming rate. Families are spending less time together enjoying their natural surroundings. Despite our conservation efforts, too many of our fields are becoming fragmented, too many of our rivers and streams are becoming polluted, and we are losing our connection to the parks, wild places, and open spaces we grew up with and cherish. Children, especially, are spending less time outside running and playing, fishing and hunting, and connecting to the outdoors just down the street or outside of town.

Across America, communities are uniting to protect the places they love, and developing new approaches to saving and enjoying the outdoors. They are bringing together farmers and ranchers,more land trusts, recreation and conservation groups, sportsmen, community park groups, governments and industry, and people from all over the country to develop new partnerships and innovative programs to protect and restore our outdoors legacy. However, these efforts are often scattered and sometimes insufficient.

The Federal Government, the Nation’s largest land manager, has a responsibility to engage with these partners to help develop a conservation agenda worthy of the 21st Century. We must look to the private sector and nonprofit organizations, as well as towns, cities, and States, and the people who live and work in them, to identify the places that mean the most to Americans, and leverage the support of the Federal Government to help these community-driven efforts to succeed. Through these partnerships, we will work to connect these outdoor spaces to each other, and to reconnect Americans to them.

For these reasons, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Establishment.

(a) There is established the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative (Initiative), to be led by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and implemented in coordination with the agencies listed in section 2(b) of this memorandum. The Initiative may include the heads of other executive branch departments, agencies, and offices (agencies) as the President may, from time to time, designate.

(b) The goals of the Initiative shall be to:

(i) Reconnect Americans, especially children, to America’s rivers and waterways, landscapes of national significance, ranches, farms and forests, great parks,and coasts and beaches by exploring a variety of efforts, including:

(A) promoting community-based recreation and conservation, including local parks, greenways,beaches, and waterways;

(B) advancing job and volunteer opportunities related to conservation and outdoor recreation; and

(ii) Build upon State, local, private, and tribal priorities for the conservation of land, water,wildlife, historic, and cultural resources, creating corridors and connectivity across these outdoor spaces, and for enhancing neighborhood parks; and determine how the Federal Government can best advance those priorities through public private partnerships and locally supported conservation strategies.

(iii) Use science-based management practices to restore and protect our lands and waters for future generations.

Sec. 2. Functions. The functions of the Initiative shall include:

(a) Outreach. The Initiative shall conduct listening and learning sessions around the country where land and waters are being conserved and community parks are being established in innovative ways. These sessions should engage the full range of interested groups, including tribal leaders, farmers and ranchers, sportsmen, community park groups, foresters, youth groups, businesspeople, educators, State and local governments, and recreation and conservation groups. Special attention should be given to bringing young Americans into the conversation. These listening sessions will inform the reports required in subsection (c) of this section.

(b) Interagency Coordination. The following agencies shall work with the Initiative to identify existing resources and align policies and programs to achieve its goals:

(i) the Department of Defense;

(ii) the Department of Commerce;

(iii) the Department of Housing and Urban

Development;

(iv) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(v) the Department of Labor;

(vi) the Department of Transportation;

(vii) the Department of Education; and

(viii) the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

(c) Reports. The Initiative shall submit, through the Chair of the CEQ, the following reports to the President:

(i) Report on America’s Great Outdoors. By November 15, 2010, the Initiative shall submit a report that includes the following:

(A) a review of successful and promising nonfederal conservation approaches;

(B) an analysis of existing Federal resources and programs that could be used to complement those approaches;

(C) proposed strategies and activities to achieve the goals of the Initiative; and

(D) an action plan to meet the goals of the Initiative.

The report should reflect the constraints in resources available in, and be consistent with, the Federal budget. It should recommend efficient and effective use of existing resources, as well as opportunities to leverage nonfederal public and private resources and nontraditional conservation programs.

(ii) Annual reports. By September 30, 2011, and September 30, 2012, the Initiative shall submit reports on its progress in implementing the action plan developed pursuant to subsection (c)(i)(D) of this section.

Sec. 3. General Provisions.

(a) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of any necessary appropriations.

(b) This memorandum does not create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies,or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(c) The heads of executive departments and agencies shall assist and provide information to the Initiative, consistent with applicable law, as may be necessary to carry out the functions of the Initiative. Each executive department and agency shall bear its own expenses of participating in the Initiative.

(d) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the OMB relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(e) The Chair of the CEQ is authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

Just the flowery nature of this memorandum gives me the creeps. As if President Obama cares if kids fish and hunt. It is my attention this needs close scrutiny going forward, as it has all the earmarks of government over reach. Oh, there’s a surprise.

We are a Citizenship organization based on our great American Heritage and dedicated to educating American Citizens of their historic Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights.

This Nation has done quite well for 233 years by following the concepts of our Founding Fathers Freedom Documents. Are we to continue “Our Heritage as Soveriegn Citizens of these united States” ?

Become an Active Citizen Today –
Together, we can succeed in retaining all the Inalienable Rights of the People.

“I am ONE, I am only ONE, I will do what ONE can do.”

“We will be Ever Vigilant in the defense of our Republic, Constitution and Ideals set forth by our Country’s Founding Fathers through Education, Knowledge and Wisdom guided by Liberty, Honesty and Equality so help us God.”

Keeping in mind this is typical for progressives and FDR signed a record 3466 executive orders as president, we can only hope POTUS is not going for a record. The federal register provides the following information:

Executive Orders Disposition Tables Index

Disposition Tables contain information about Executive Orders beginning with those signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and are arranged according to Presidential administration and year of signature. The tables are compiled and maintained by the Office of the Federal Register editors.

President Obama’s ‘TARP Forever’ Act

We cannot restore confidence in our economy unless we fully address the root causes of the financial crisis and take definitive steps to ensure that taxpayers are never again forced to pick up the tab for bad bets on Wall Street. The legislation President Obama is promoting, however, does neither of these things and actually makes matters worse.

President Obama talks a big game when it comes to Wall Street, but his newest job-killing initiative would provide the nation’s largest financial firms with permanent bailouts ordered and overseen by unelected federal bureaucrats.

Under his proposal, the largest Wall Street firms would become eligible for special treatment, including taxpayer-funded resources unavailable to smaller financial firms. These include exclusive access to a pre-existing bailout fund, a Treasury-backed line of credit and a government guarantee for any debt.

Such perks will benefit the likes of Goldman Sachs, President Obama’s top financial contributor during the 2008 campaign and a firm that just happens to be under investigation by the SEC for defrauding investors.

The decision to designate Goldman and other giant banks as “too big to fail” won’t be made by taxpayers or their elected representatives. Under the Democrats’ plan, a new “Financial Stability Oversight Council” made up of unelected federal bureaucrats — including representatives from the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, the CFTC, the FDIC and the SEC — would have absolute power to seize any company and do whatever it wants with it.

That means Washington Democrats would force taxpayers to rely on the same government bureaucracies that were asleep at the switch the last time around. The commissioner of the SEC has warned that “there are no clear limits on the degree of government intervention that could be expected.”

This special treatment makes these large firms more attractive to investors than the smaller local banks, widening the gap between Wall Street and Main Street. Local banks will receive none of the perks of the Democrats’ permanent bailout bill while being forced to comply with all of its expensive, job-killing mandates — at the worst possible time for small businesses across America.

Of course, the large banks won’t mind having their borrowing costs permanently lowered by government intervention. That is exactly how it was with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government mortgage companies that kicked off the crisis by giving high-risk loans to people who couldn’t afford them.

Hoping to meet ambitious growth targets and reap considerable bonuses, Fannie and Freddie executives doubled down on their junk mortgage bet by investing heavily in the derivatives market, sparking a systemwide meltdown.

While it’s true Republicans voted for the bailouts under Bush, they may have learned their lesson. Chances are they are just playing politics now, but the fact is they are right on this, whether it’s heartfelt or not. Please take a couple minutes and send some form of communication to your elected officials and let them know this is more of the same and that just by calling it reform, while stabbing the taxpayers in the back, is not the change we need or want. A rose by any other name is still a rose. A scheme by any other name is still a scheme. Just like the recently passed “health care reform” bill.

This is how it’s going to play out over and over again, at breakneck speed, until the end of this Congressional session.

U.S. Court of Appeals Suspends Ruling that Congressional Funding Ban on ACORN was Unconstitutional

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary Committee Member released the following statement on the U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit decision to stay the December 2009 injunction by Clinton-appointed Judge Nina Gershon that the Congressional funding ban on the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) was unconstitutional. As a result, as the U.S. Court of Appeals further reviews the case, the Congressional funding ban will go back into effect, and ACORN will not receive taxpayer dollars.

“I applaud the Court of Appeals for immediately addressing the effects of Judge Gershon’s attempt to legislate from the bench. Today’s action immediately restores the congressionally mandated ban on funding ACORN and its affiliates as a result of their criminal conduct and wasting of taxpayer dollars. Congress has the constitutional right to deny an organization the benefit of taxpayer dollars.

“With today’s action by the Appeals Court, the Obama Administration must take immediate steps to re-implement the funding ban for ACORN Congress put in to law. In recent months, ACORN has undergone a rebranding campaign to disguise itself and its affiliates. As a result, the White House and all federal agencies must be extremely vigilant to ensure that rebranded organizations who have continued to make deals and maintain connections to ACORN don’t receive taxpayer dollars.”

Click here for a copy of the Appeals Court Decision to Stay Judge Gershon’s injunction on implementing the Federal funding ban on ACORN.

Click here to read the April 2010 report entitled “ACORN Political Machine Tries to Reinvent Itself.”

Click here to read the February 2010 report entitled “Follow the Money: ACORN, SEIU and their Political Allies.”

Today and for several days now, Goldman Sachs has been in the headlines.

Therefore, I felt it important to flag previous columns I have done on them, including how they helped to write the upcoming Cap and Trade bill, a large percentage of which has to do with the nation’s economy and not carbon emissions. Yes, another swindle is in process- just another in a decades long manipulation.

The Bubble Machine (video) from Brasscheck TV and Matt Taibbi at Rollingstone

Watch all five short videos!

“The Financial Services Modernization Act.’
“The Commodity Futures Modernization Act.”
Goldman Sachs wrote them…
Clinton teed them up and Bush & Co. knocked them down the fairway.
Now Goldman owns the new president too.
The bankrupting of America (and the world) on the behalf of a handful of New York investment bankers.
Kleptocracy – government of the thieves, by the thieves, for the thieves.

Matt Taibbi on how Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression

So- first they took your 401K (internet bubble), then they took your house (real estate bubble) and assaulted your 401K again, raised the interest rates on your charge cards to 20%+. For those of us still hanging on – here comes Cap and Trade. Another bill engineered by Goldman Sachs, with a little help from their friends.

Earlier I gave you the facts behind the fallacious science being used to co-opt our government and doom our family budgets: http://wp.me/pxG9Z-ak

Let me push the envelope further by rerunning some background data. Goldman Sachs has an untold number of “operatives” in our government, put there by both Presidents Bush and Obama, as well as their predecessors. Goldman Sachs and GE (owners of the NBC family of networks), along with Al Gore’s company will be the benefactors financially of the Carbon Credit market. The government will benefit also by a vast increase in taxes paid by businesses and in turn consumers. Here we will highlight the history behind the government connection with Goldman Sachs. It’s important you know these facts and use them to inform your representatives in the House and Senate that you know the real deal and you do not approve. I will leave this up all weekend, as the video takes 20 minutes to go through. As well, there is an accompanying article from Matt Taibbi, who is the interviewee in these videos. This is WELL worth your twenty minute investment.

I have often wondered why conservative talk show hosts don’t ban together to start their own cable channel. Hat tip Pam for pointing me to the NY Daily News for the following tidbit:

Actor Kelsey Grammer is one of the names behind The RightNetwork, a new operation that is being targeted at “Americans who are looking for content that reflects and reinforces their perspective and world-view.”

The network is expected to launch this summer and is hoping to be available to on-demand cable offerings, online and mobile phones.

“There’s wrong, and there’s right, right network, all that’s right with the world,” Grammer says in a video clip on the network’s Web site.

Likewise, the network’s promotional materials say it will focus on entertainment with “pro-America,” “pro-business, pro-military sensibilities” that will ultimately invite conversation and influence “the national conversation.”

Because the RightNetwork is being pitched as an on-demand offering it means it wouldn’t initially have the same reach – or draw – as traditional cable networks that are on all the time on a cable system. Subscribers would physically have to click through to get the service.

“We’re creating a welcome place for millions and millions of Americans who’ve been looking for an entertainment network and media channel that reflects their point-of-view,” Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, said in a statement on the site. “RightNetwork will be the perfect platform to entertain, inform and Connect with the American majority about what’s right in the world.”

Snider is a personal investor in the RightNetwork, which has nothing to do with Comcast-Spectacor. Comcast-Spectacor is a joint venture with Comcast that was founded by Snider, and owns the Philadelphia Flyers, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Wachovia Center and Wachovia Spectrum in South Philadelphia and Comcast SportsNet.

Word of the network spread over the weekend when the Web site Crooksandliars.com reported Comcast was behind the effort, although Comcast officials moved to shoot down those reports Monday.

“The blog reports that Comcast is an investor in, or partner of the RightNetwork are inaccurate,” according to a company statement. “We have no partnership with this venture and have no plans to launch or distribute the network. As we have done with hundreds of other content providers, we have met with the network’s representatives. We do carry a number of independent networks on Comcast representing a wide variety of interests and diverse viewpoints.”

While the network’s Web site or Facebook page doesn’t specifically say conservatives, it’s clearly designed for folks who might be upset with today’s government.

FEMA Region VIII and FEMA Region IX, select State and Local jurisdictions (venues) and the National Capital Region (NCR)

Multi-day (4-5), operations-based exercise scheduled for May 2010

This report discusses the focus of the exercises as training for domestic terrorism. I seem to be seeing that topic in government discussions a lot of late. Along with citizen armies of various ilk being created in bills and documents right and left, I wonder what the government is preparing for exactly.

Here are additional links to help you translate the various programs and proceedures noted in the above document:

Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the MercatusCenter. She was previously a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, and a research fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation. Her research interests include the federal budget, homeland security, taxation, tax competition, and financial privacy issues.

America’s financial situation is unsustainable. In 2009 the federal government spent $3.5 trillion but collected only $2.1 trillion in revenue. The result was a $1.4 trillion deficit, up from $458 billion in 2008. That’s 10 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a level unseen since World War II. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that we will be running large deficits for the foreseeable future. According to its data, the annual deficits could average $1 trillion during the next 10 years.

While these figures are dramatic, they pale in comparison to what the federal government owes to foreign and domestic investors. According to the CBO, in 2009 America’s debt held by the public reached $7.5 trillion, or 53 percent of GDP, the highest it has been in 50 years. In 2010 the debt will cross the 60 percent threshold, a level at which many economists believe a country is putting itself in financial peril.

Maybe more importantly, the financial accounting of our financial troubles can lead us to underestimate the gravity of the situation. For instance, while the Department of Treasury’s Financial Statement of the United States depicts the financial situation of the country much more accurately than the Office of Management and Budget’s Budget of the United States, it leaves out some important elements that could hinder lawmakers’ realization of the urgency to address our financial situation. For instance, it accounts accurately for the IOUs in the Social Security Trust Fund, however, fails to account for how the federal government will pay its debt to social security and what it means for our debt levels.

“Medicare spending growth is the primary driver of the explosion in entitlement spending. The President’s FY 2011 Budget estimates $451 billion in Medicare spending in FY 2010, a 6% increase in Medicare outlays over 2009, as a percentage of GDP. In the long-term, CBO’s baseline projects that Medicare spending will grow by 2.6% annually Moreover, under the CBO’s alternative scenario, which includes likely policy changes, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and net interest spending combined are projected to exceed total federal revenue by 2028.

As entitlement spending increases, the indebtedness of the Medicare and Social Security trust funds Programs will increase as well. Over the next 75 years, the federal government has promised benefits for these two programs in excess of anticipated payroll tax revenues equal to $7.7 trillion and $38 trillion, respectively.

The Treasury Department estimates Social Security’s deficit at 1% of GDP over the next 75 years and Medicare’s deficit at 4.8%. With federal revenues estimated to be about 19% of GDP in the long run under current law, taxes would have to rise by about one-third to pay all the promises that have been made for just these two programs.

The Office of Management and Budget estimates that in the absence of massive cuts in Social Security, Medicare and other programs, or an equally massive tax increase, the national debt will rise to 77% of GDP in 2020, 100% of GDP in 2030 and more than twice GDP by 2050.”

Her Conclusion:

“Conclusion

As I’ve shown, the fiscal path of this country is simply unsustainable. The less-than transparent ways in which the federal government goes about accounting for its assets and liabilities does not allow policymakers and agency decision-makers to make informed decisions about the nation’s true fiscal position. I thank you again for the opportunity to testify on this most important topic, and look forward to answering your questions.”

We had a wonderful rally here in Traverse City, MI today. About 150 people turned out to protest the over reach of government into it’s citizen’s pockets and lives. Hundreds of cars drove by honking and waving in support. It was a great and uplifting day. How wonderful for our country that so many of us are waking up to the abuses of government. We got the offical count from the Tea Party Express rally held here over the weekend, which was 2200 people. Not bad for a town of 15,000 in rural northern Michigan.

All in all, there were 2 looser lefties that couldn’t help by stick their nose in to cause trouble. Rather than just going about there business, two liberals made a scene, or tried to.

One younger guy stood across the street from the teaparty holding up a sign saying “Let’s teabag Mrs. Palin”. What does that say about that fellow? What a jerk!!! LOL… joke’s on you bud. You think that sign makes you look clever? NO.. it makes you look stupid and uneducated.

Secondly, one gentlemen in his seventies, old enough to know better, came up and put his finger in my chest and said “Where were you when Bush was president”. I told the jerk I was right here telling people government was overstepping it’s bounds. Particularly when they started with the bail outs. I’ve been telling people for decades things were not right in the mortgage biz – but before, no one would listen. But the minute I opened my mouth, he called me “and my kind” a bunch of racists, and like a coward, uninterested in facts, he walked away.

That’s the problem with liberals- they know they don’t have facts to back up their allegations, so they lie, make stuff up, or fire and run.

I thank God I live in the country where sensible people who believe in what our country stands for and are willing to fight for it make up the majority of citizenry. The much smaller percentage of folks who live on kool-aid are much louder and aggressive, but at the end of the day do not have history, facts, or common sense to back them up.

The older I get the more I realize that, which makes the fight even easier in my mind.

To all those Patriots who stood on the front lines today in defense of freedom, the constitution, and limited government- THANK YOU!

Here are some photos of our rally here today. If you have some you’d like to share, send me one. If I get a bunch, I will post them here over the weekend.

CONTRACT FROM AMERICA:

The Contract from America was officially debuted this evening at 7:30pm at the Tax Day Tea Party in Washington D.C.

The preamble to the Contract From America states that it is based on the principles of individual liberty, limited government and economic freedom.

It then enumerates 10 agenda items that it wants congressional candidates to follow. It also lists the vote percentages that each agenda item received in the online balloting that generated the planks:

“(1) Protect the Constitution: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does (82.03 percent).

“(3) Demand a Balanced Budget: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike. (69.69 percent)

“(4) Enact Fundamental Tax Reform: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the internal revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words — the length of the original Constitution. (64.90 percent).

“(5) Restore Fiscal Responsibility & Constitutionally Limited Government in Washington: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in a complete audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states or local authorities, or ripe for wholesale reform or elimination due to our efforts to restore limited government consistent with the U.S. Constitution’s meaning. (63.37 percent)

“(6) End Runaway Government Spending: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of the inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth. (56.57 percent).

“(7) Defund, Repeal & Replace Government-run Health Care: Defund, repeal and replace the recently passed government-run health care with a system that actually makes health care and insurance more affordable by enabling a competitive, open, and transparent free-market health care and health insurance system that isn’t restricted by state boundaries. (56.39 percent).

“(9) Stop the Pork: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the budget is balanced, and then require a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark. (55.47 percent).

“(10) Stop the Tax Hikes: Permanently repeal all tax hikes, including those to the income, capital gains and death taxes, currently scheduled to begin in 2011. (53.38 percent).”

….”How do we win in 2010?” Barbour asked the Southern Republican Leadership Conference over the weekend. “We stick together.”

“The Democrats’ fondest hope is to see the Tea Party or other conservatives split off and start a third party,” Barbour said. “Barack Obama is … praying for the conservative vote to be split in 2010. We can’t let that happen. We’ve got to stay unified.”

You can find out if your plan is on the Critical/Endangered list here.

If it is not, consider yourself lucky, for now.

According to Pension Watch, there is a tsunami of trouble coming when it comes to pension plans. It warns boomers that a crisis is about to be unleashed that will endanger all of our retirement plans. They also offer much information anyone 50 or more should look at. Even those in their 40s may want to at minimum be informed and act accordingly to modify their plans while there may still be time. Make sure to check the list of blogs and resources on the right had side of home page.

American workers depend on pensions for the bulk of their retirement income. That is why Congress and the U.S. Department of Labor require annual disclosure of the financial status of individual pension plans. A detailed analysis of these data shows that union-negotiated plans are not as actuarially sound as those provided by private companies to their non-union employees.

Pensions come in two broad categories: defined benefit pensions and defined contribution pensions. A defined benefit pension promises a specific monthly stipend for a retiree’s lifetime, calculated using the number of years worked and some measure of the worker’s earnings over that time. A de fined contribution pension sets up personal investment accounts; typically, the employee can make some choices about how the money in his account is invested.

A large part of the difference between union plans and employer plans appears to be a tendency towards low contributions among union plans. In 2005, the latest full year of data available, collectively bargained pension plans were more poorly funded than their non-union counterparts. Large plans, those with 100 or more participants, strongly showed this pattern. While 36.5 percent of nonunion plans were fully funded,1 only 19 percent of union plans met this criterion. The Pension Protection Act of 2006 considers funds underfunded, but not “at-risk,” if they are at least 80 percent fund ed.

While nearly 90 percent of non-union plans met the funding threshold of 80 percent, only about 60 percent of union plans were not “at-risk.” Among collectively bargained pensions, around 11 percent were only 65 percent funded, low enough to put the larger national plans in the heavily-penalized “critical” category. Only two percent of non-union plans were in this condition.

Among small plans, similar patterns emerged. Of non-union plans, 57 percent were fully funded as com pared to 28 percent of union plans. While 43 percent of non-fully funded non-union plans failed to pay their annual costs, 71 percent of union plans that were not fully funded were behind on payments. However, as compared to large union plans, small union plans were 37 percent more likely to be less than 80 percent funded, and 16 percent more likely to be in “critical” condition.

Our analysis finds that pension plans for the officers and staffs of unions were much better funded than those for the rank-and-file. On average, the 21 largest union pension plans had less than 70 percent of the funds that they would need to cover their total obligations, and none were fully funded. Seven were less than 65 percent funded. Yet 23 officer and staff funds from the same unions had 88.2 percent of the funding they would need to pay promised pensions, including seven fully funded plans and another 13 with at least 80 percent of their required funds. Excluding the seven plans strictly for union office employees, staff funds had 98.4 percent of their required funds.

Unions have also been caught using their funds to achieve their political ends. In 2005, the Department of Labor wrote the AFL-CIO a letter telling it to reconsider such practices. Theoretically, pension funds are not permitted to make investment decisions based on politics or public policy. Using pensions as a political tool hurts union members because it may push their retirement funds into lower yielding investments. That diminishes investment returns and thus reduces resources available to pay promised benefits.

We all know the impending doom of the Social Security program. According to AARP :

Social Security must be put on a sound financial footing, and soon. We need to strengthen the system to achieve long-term solvency while also guaranteeing a benefit that can’t be outlived, with adequate cost-of-living adjustments that maintain the value of the benefit. Social Security has been, and must continue to be, the bedrock of retirement security, especially as defined benefit plans dwindle.

Second, we must encourage employers to continue to support existing defined benefit plans in ways that treat both newer and longer-service workers fairly. Congress is working to reconcile House and Senate pension reform bills that would shore up such plans. The key is to strike the right balance by tightening contribution rules enough to ensure that companies set aside adequate funds to keep pension promises, but not enough to impel healthy companies to drop their coverage.

Finally, employers, government and individuals must take a hard look at how well the 401(k) system is working. Only about half our work force has access to such plans today, but more plans are coming. Simple changes in their design—such as automatically enrolling workers but leaving them the option to drop out, or automatically investing workers in age-appropriate “lifestyle” funds—can dramatically increase retirement savings. And employees should have easy-to-use savings options, clear information and independent, appropriate advice to help them make decisions.

Canada is toying with the idea of increasing immigration in order to create solvency in their pension plans, according to TheSpec.com. Is that why the borders are being left open here in the US? However, in a 2008 report, it was estimated only $9Billion was paid into Social Security by illegals.That contrasts to 2008 cost to American taxpayers for illegals of a whopping $346Billion. They must be using the “government math” if that’s their reasoning for not sealing our borders.

If you are in your mid 40s or older, this issue should be front and center in your mind. If you are 55 or older, you must have a plan A,B,C in mind. Please use these resource links to obtain needed information to make sound decisions for your future. That would include demanding from our politicians dedicated solid plans going forward.

Those on the left who say if we want limited government, we should give up our social security benefits are idiots. That is our money. We PAID that money. Those of us who own businesses have paid it double. To suggest we don’t deserve our money back, with interest at least, are pulling the old liberal methodology.. Free speech, but only if your a liberal; Liberty is for liberals only; and now Social Security is only for those who believe in big government and the nanny state.

I don’t think so.

On that note- don’t forget to join us on the picket lines Thursday! Nearly every area is having a Tax Day Protest. See you on the front lines, fellow boomers. 🙂

Not to belabor a point, but to give you fodder for cocktail parties and family gatherings I present the following with the note that whatever they turned in to the CBO for scoring was in no way representative of the mechanisms they are building. This will prove that:

The following article from the EUTimes was brought to my attention over the weekend:

A new report circulating in the Kremlin today authored by France’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) and recently “obtained” by the FSB shockingly quotes French President Nicolas Sarkozy [photo top right with Obama] as stating that President Barack Obama is “a dangerous[ly] aliéné”, which translates into his, Obama, being a “mad lunatic”, or in the American vernacular, “insane”.

According to this report, Sarkozy was “appalled” at Obama’s “vision” of what the World should be under his “guidance” and “amazed” at the American Presidents unwillingness to listen to either “reason” or “logic”. Sarkozy’s meeting where these impressions of Obama were formed took place nearly a fortnight ago at the White House in Washington D.C., and upon his leaving he “scolded” Obama and the US for not listening closely enough to what the rest of the World has to say.

Apparently, as this report details, the animosity between Sarkozy and Obama arose out of how best the West can deal with the growing threat posed by rising Islamic fundamentalism. Both Sarkozy and his European neighbors had previously been supported in their efforts by the United States in forming an alliance to strengthen the integration of Muslim peoples into their societies, and has including France and Belgium moving to ban the wearing of burqa’s.

European fears over their growing Muslim populations appear to be valid as the growing immigration and birth rates of these Islamic peoples are warned is causing the “Eurabiazation” of the Continent and within a few generations will see them become the majority of nearly all of the EU Nations.

The greatest threat to these Western Nations posed by the Muslim peoples becoming the majority of their populations lies in their likelihood of destroying the Global Banking System which according to their faith is firmly rooted in “satanic” evil and “must” be replaced by an Islamic one.

[Note: Islamic banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity that is consistent with the principles of Islamic law (Sharia) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Sharia prohibits the payment or acceptance of interest fees for the lending and accepting of money respectively, (Riba, usury) for specific terms, as well as investing in businesses that provide goods or services considered contrary to its principles (Haraam, forbidden).

Obama, on the other hand, doesn’t share the views of his European allies and has, instead, embarked upon a course of embracing the Muslim peoples of the World and to the shock of all has overturned the Bush era ban on the radical Swiss born Muslim Cleric Tariq Ramadan from entering the United States, last year ordered the US government bailed out General Electric Capital Corporation to became the first Western multinational to issue an Islamic bond, and this past week commanded that all of his governments security documents eliminate the words “Islamic extremism” and “jihad”.

Sarkozy in these reports further warns that by Obama’s “unrestrained” and “destabilizing” actions an already tense Global situation is growing ever more catastrophic as America’s once stalwart allies are being cast aside in favor of a New World Order where instead of the United States securing its vital energy future through conquest and war it will now do so by appeasement to some of the most violent and radical regimes on Earth, and as we can see exampled:

In Egypt…where the 30-year reign of the stalwart US ally President Hosni Mubarak is being allowed by Obama to fall so that this most vital of Middle Eastern countries can be ruled by the former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, who allowed through his appeasement the Persian Nation of Iran to gain the knowledge, equipment and expertise needed to build an atomic bomb.

In Turkey…where Obama in failing to stop, like all American Presidents before him, his Congress from passing a law blaming that critical Eurasian Nation for the 1915 Armenian genocide left Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan no choice but to recall his ambassador to the US.

In Kyrgyzstan…where Obama failed to stop a revolution against the American installed President thus allowing Russian Prime Minister Putin to achieve his goal of revolutionary change for that critical Central Asian Nation and putting in jeopardy the United States war in Afghanistan as the new Kyrgyz government prepares to throw the Americans out of their country thus depriving them of their main air supply route to their already undersupplied troops battling the Afghan Taliban.

In India…where by Obama’s failing to support the Indians fight against Pakistani backed Muslim terrorists has caused the second most powerful Asian Nation to turn towards Iranrebuffing all Western attempts to isolate them and instead of their participating in Obama’s Global Nuclear Summit have, instead, agreed to attend the Iranians.

In Pakistan…where just this week Obama gave this vital American ally a “public slap on the wrist” by denying to them the same nuclear deal he had previously given to India thus insuring the Pakistani military will cease their support for American troops in Afghanistan battling the Taliban.

In Afghanistan…where Obama has engaged in a public war with his ally President Karzai who because so enraged he threatened this past week to change his allegiance from the Americans to the Taliban.

In Israel…where Obama has so demoralized and demonized their once most reliable ally that Prime Minister Netanyahu has just announced he will not attend Obama’s Global Nuclear Summit because of his fears that the American President will not keep Egypt and Turkey under control thus threatening the Israelis nuclear supremacy over their Middle Eastern enemies who have sworn to destroy them.

To all of these actions (and too many more to mention in this short report) Russian Military Analysts warn that Obama has pushed our world towards total global war more than any single leader since Nazi Germany’s Adolph Hitler, to which Russia and China are, likewise, preparing to confront to stop the Americans.

Most unfortunately for those Americans living under the Obama regime is that their attempts to stop the radical socialism he has pushed upon them from destroying their once great Nation has failed as new reports from the United States are showing that in under two years Obama and his cohorts have succeeded in making nearly 50% of these people support the other 50% who aren’t working. (And which really should surprise none of them as during his campaign for the Presidency he openly vowed to “redistribute the wealth”, but which history has always shown makes everyone a pauper, except for the elites that is.)

…Now to if Sarkozy’s grim and dire assessment of Obama is true or not it is not in our knowing, nor do these reports say. But, it is important to note that nearly all of the longstanding allies of the United States Obama has turned his back on are, admittedly, some really bad (to say the least) leaders who no one in their right mind would want to live under.

I am happy to report the Tea Party Express made a stop in my hometown today with two thousand people attending the rally. Not bad considering Traverse City has a population of 15,000 people. There were four anti-rally protestors who stood across the street and peacefully held signs in support of the president. We had absoluetely no trouble, for which I was relieved and thankful.

It was a beautiful day and a wonderful time with speakers, politicians, entertainers and a sense of fellowship and patriotism. Speakers included Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox speaking on the lawsuit against Obamacare, Former Michigan State Congressmen Jack Hoogendyk, Linda Goldthorpe who is running for Bart Stupak’s former seat (I love to say that), Darla Dewald from Resistnet and other patriotic activists. Entertainers included Lloyd Marcus, whom we had seen in DC back in September.

Here are some photos of today’s Tea Party Express visit in Traverse City, MI:

There are many tea party rallies being held all over the country this weekend, including a visit from the Tea Party Express in my hometown. I will be posting photos sometime late tomorrow.

However, it is important for you to realize, as I have posted on in recent days, the left is out to infiltrate, cause incidents, then blame the tea party.

You may wish to notify police ahead of your rally to let them know the left is planning to cause trouble and arrange for them to be standing by.

As I have stated many times, please, take your cameras and video cameras and have them ready to roll at all times. Document any and all incidents and deliver them to honest media outlets or conservative bloggers. I will post any legitimate incidents I receive from readers.

These darlings in the Tea Party movement are quite afraid of violent rhetoric. Let us use this. We should begin to create fake accounts, and post such rhetoric and watch as they get extremely upset…it is quite funny to watch. I posted something similar (farther down the page) to this on the Tea Party patriots website and instantly stirred the hornets nest. If we want to corrupt the image of this short-lived populist movement, we should be promoting violence in the name of the movement. Post on their websites and bring the radical rhetoric to their rallies, especially on 4/15.

Consider rhetoric like this:
These darlings in the Tea Party movement are quite afraid of violent rhetoric. Let us use this. We should begin to create fake accounts, and post such rhetoric and watch as they get extremely upset…it is quite funny to watch. I posted something similar (farther down the page) to this on the Tea Party patriots website and instantly stirred the hornets nest. If we want to corrupt the image of this short-lived populist movement, we should be promoting violence in the name of the movement. Post on their websites and bring the radical rhetoric to their rallies, especially on 4/15.

Consider rhetoric like this:

The Invisible Tea Party

My proclamation is simple: the current Tea Party Movement needs more violence. There is a coming insurrection in this country towards our worthless government and this movement is the vehicle to deliver this momentous change.

Many will mock and preach out against this type of activism, the most cynical would not even call it activism, but do let the cowards fool you. Everything is about to change. Not through a ballot box, not through elected officials, not through any system man has conceived to rule himself. The change will come from the minds of the bravest TPPs and his or her methods will be considered very extreme by those who fear for his/her societal or ruling position.

The mainstream Tea Party Movement that controls this site is afraid of posts like these and often deletes and suspends free thinkers such as ourselves. Such cowardice can not stand in such a beautiful movement

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History Repeats Itself

"Their final objective toward which all their deciet is directed, is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection" - Henry A. Wallace, US VP 1941-45

Up until a few years ago, I was happy filling my life with personal issues of family, work, home. Then, I began to notice our once great country is run by a government which has no respect for the Constitution and no respect for us, it's citizens. I realize now it is up to folks like me to change this. I am only one person, but through this blog it is my hope to point out to ordinary Americans how our rights, our liberty, is being threatened. My belief is by shining a bright light, we as a people can begin to peacefully remove the power hungry, self serving autocrats running our government. This is not about one party or another. This is about the very foundation our country was built on. Our foundation is crumbling. Please help me shore it up! Do not be afraid to Speak Out Loudly! Of the people, by the people, for the people. That is how we will get our country back! Please visit our sister site www.WatchdogCentral.org to check up on your government officials - national, state and local.